Kisoro– The Uganda Red Cross National Disaster Response Teams (NDRTs WASH) have constructed the T95 water storage facility at Nyakabande transit center in Kisoro.
According to Irene Nakasiita the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) spokesperson, this will serve refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo with clean and safe water.
She says this facility which can produce 95,000 liters of water will address water needs to a significant level.
“Efforts have been supported by European Union – Humanitarian Aid (Echo) through the Red Cross Partnerships with IFRC, Netherlands Red Cross, & Austrian Red Cross.” Says Nakasiita
Since last month, there has been an influx of refugees from the DRC to Uganda through Kisoro after M23 rebel group attacked areas of Cyanzu, Runyoni, and Kinyandoni, about 4km from Bunagana (Uganda border with Congo).
Initially blocked on Bunagana for security reasons by the authorities, the DRC refugees mainly coming from Rutchuru territory in the DRC (Nord Kivu) were later allowed to cross and as of 6th April 2022, many were camped at the holding and transit centres.
Due to the high influx of refugees, the office of the prime minister and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), has been forced to re-use the transit centre at Nyakabande along the Kisoro-Kabale Road that had been closed for renovations.
As of 6th April, 2022 out of 8,586 individuals were already counted with 7,298 manually registered according to UNHCR registration.
Mainly UNHCR, the government, and URCS have been engaged in the different shelter, WASH, security, and protection assistance.
